


Family Ties

by TANGOCHARLIE



Series: Jack Dalton's School of Infinite Wisdom [6]
Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Cairo Day 2020, Found Family, Gen, Parental Jack Dalton (MacGyver TV 2016)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-18
Updated: 2020-04-18
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:46:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23715388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TANGOCHARLIE/pseuds/TANGOCHARLIE
Summary: 'Cause everybody's crazy 'bout a sharp dressed man.Cairo Day Six: The Ties that Bind
Relationships: Jack Dalton & Angus MacGyver (MacGyver TV 2016)
Series: Jack Dalton's School of Infinite Wisdom [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1644943
Comments: 11
Kudos: 50





	Family Ties

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!   
> We just wanted to take a moment to thank you for all the support for our little collaborative projects! We're glad that you enjoy reading them as much as we enjoy daydreaming, screaming at each other about them, and putting them together.   
> Happy Cairo Week MacGyver Fandom!

Mac growls in frustration. Frowning as his fingers fly over the knot, tugging and pulling without success. He glances up and notices Jack watching him. An embarrassed blush creeps over his cheeks. 

“Easy there, hoss, you got this,” Jack coaches, reaching up and catching Mac’s hands. “First things first, don’t get frustrated.”

“Why? Cause it can smell frustration?”

“No…” Jack says slowly. “That’d be real weird, dude. It’s a bow tie. It’s not smelling anything. And hopefully, not smelling _like_ anything. Last thing you want is to return a mission tux to Wardrobe with shrimp cocktail stains on it.” 

After the last year living in each other’s pockets, Mac recognizes a distraction when he hears one. It’s a Jack Dalton special. A diversion for when he thinks Mac is trying too hard. Running interference when Mac’s brain is on the fritz. And apparently not a habit he’s planning to give up now that they’re home. 

Mac huff in exasperation and pulls his hands away from Jack, heading for the lopsided knot at his neck again. “I don’t understand why I need to do this? I thought I’d be disarming bombs, cracking safes, maybe occasionally hotwire a car. Not wearing tuxedos and ordering martinis.”

“Well, first of all, don’t go up to the bartender at any of these fancy shindigs and order a martini. No matter how cool you think that moment will be, the amount of judgement you’ll get from him, other party-goers and anyone listening on comms isn’t worth it.” 

Mac snickers before he can stop himself. Then frowns again. 

“You’re an agent now. Sometimes it’s the running and the… well, I was gonna say punching but hopefully, you’ve got me for that so you can save those hands for the occasional ordnance disposal rather than busting heads. But sometimes it’s going to a party to meet your contact. And those parties mean tuxedos and bow ties.” 

“Maybe I’m not cut out for this,” Mac drops his hands to his sides in dramatic frustration. 

“Alright, alright, now. Is this the frustration talking? Or you really want out? Cause if you do, I’ll get you out. A nice job as a middle school science teacher or in a real think tank somewhere. There must be one that exists that isn’t a cover for a government agency.” Jack holds his gaze. 

Mac sighs. “No.” He admits, ducking his head for a moment then forcing himself to meet Jack’s gaze. His inability to complete what he viewed as an easy task left him flustered leading to his puerile display. “It’s the frustration.”

Jack smiles to himself. Getting Mac to acknowledge the emotions he’s feeling isn’t always easy, but it's worth the effort.

“Well, I can teach ya. It’s a little more challenging than a regular tie, but you can get it.” 

“What if I can’t?”

“Sure you can.” Jack resists the urge to sigh. He thought they were making progress. “You disarmed bombs in a war zone for a living, dude. You can tie a bow tie. And if you really can’t then we’ll get you a regular tie. Plenty of tuxedos have regular ol’ ties now.”

“That… that won’t help.”

Jack frowns. This is different than Mac’s usual being-too-hard-on-himself irritation.

“I…” Mac shrugs. “I can’t tie a tie. Any tie.”

“What do you mean?”

“I never learned.”

“But you’re good with knots.”

“I don’t know what to tell you, but I’ve never been able to get it. And I’ve never really had to wear a suit so…”

“What about your dress blues?”

“Bozer helped me the first time and then I just, never untied it all the way when I took it off, so I could just slip it back on when I needed to.” 

“Alright then,” quickly switching gears from annoying older brother to patient teacher. “It is your lucky day because I am a tie master. If you can’t get it after a lesson or two with me, there ain’t no hope… Nah, nah, wipe that frown off your face. I might not be able to rattle off the periodic table while concussed, or calculate the physics of how far an explosion is going to throw me while I’m flying through the air, but I can teach one little bomb nerd how to tie his tie.” 

Mac shakes his head but allows Jack to drag him across the room until they’re standing side by side facing the mirror in the wardrobe dressing room. 

“Go ahead and pop your collar, kiddo. This is the only time I’m going to let you get away with that. We aren’t some eighty’s boy band, even with,” Jack shoves wiggling fingers into Mac’s fringe, “whatever this is that you’ve got going on.”

Mac tosses his head back trying to dislodge Jack’s fingers and rolling his eyes. Jack has to fight back a soft smile.

“Alright, now you’re going to want the left side longer than the right,” Jack undoes his tie to demonstrate and tugs it into position, watching in the mirror as Mac does the same. Tugging on the left, then pulling back on the right and repeating the motion. 

“How much longer does it need to be?” 

“Just eyeball it. Doesn’t have to be perfect.”

Mac bites his lip, drawing it one way then yanking it back in the other direction. 

“It’s not an exact science, hoss. It’s like music and cookin’ and makin’ love. You just gotta feel it in your soul.”

Jack bursts out laughing at the dubious gaze Mac swings in his direction. “What? You don’t appreciate me romanticizing tie tying? Alright. Fine. How about two inches?”

“That I can work with,” Mac nods in the mirror. 

“If you’re ready?” Mac gestures for him to proceed. “Cross the left over the top of the right, then tuck it up underneath. Grab it nice and tight. Pull that snug. Nope. Not that snug. Don’t strangle yourself.”

Mac snorts. 

“Toss that right side over your shoulder and leave it there. Take up the tail on the left and hold it straight out. That’s it.” Jack walks him step by step through each action, offering up encouragement when his fingers fumble and praise as the bow slowly takes shape.

“Now, you’re going to slowly push that last tail through the hole in the back. Yep, there ya go. Hardest part is over.”

“This is the sloppiest bow tie I’ve ever seen,” Mac says with discouragement as he looks at the knot under his chin. 

“Does mine look any better right now?” Jack asks. “That’s cause we ain’t done yet. You’re going to very gently work that knot tighter by pulling and straightening with each tug.”

Jack keeps his head tilted back so Mac can observe his actions before attempting to copy them.

“I don’t know, the knot isn’t quite right.”

“Perfect knot is the sign of a clip-on.” 

"Really?”

“Yep. And anyone who can tie a bow tie can tell. Since you aren’t some high school senior going to prom with a fuschia cummerbund and a corsage that’s already wilting, hoping to get lucky in the family minivan, you’ve gotta learn this. Get your own secret agent signature style. You’ve almost got it.”

Mac continues fiddling with the material until finally, he looks up triumphantly. 

“And look at that. Didn’t I tell ya you could do it!” Jack claps him on the shoulder. “You clean up pretty good, kiddo.” 

Mac smiles sheepishly. “Thanks, Jack.”

“Now, the most important thing you can do is, at the end of the night, grab that tail on the right side,” Jack reaches up, taking the end of Mac’s tie in his hand, “and give it a tug.” 

“Jack!” Mac protests, grabbing frantically for the knot as his hard work slowly unravels.

“Relax, hoss, leave that draped around your neck just like that and prove to everybody there that you tied that yourself.”

“And now, I have to tie it again.”

Jack disentangles his own tie for the second time. “Why don’t you talk me through tying it this time?”

There are a few missteps and false starts but two minutes later Mac is sliding into his jacket and following Jack out of Wardrobe. 

“Besides,” Jack says with a smirk and eyebrow wiggle. “Seeing that tie laying there draped around your shoulders, that’ll let your date know that you’re good with your hands and with knots. Might make them start thinking that you have some other creative uses for that tie.”

A few minutes later, their CIA counterparts arrive. Two tuxedos and two perfectly tied knots. 

As they turn towards their respective cars, Jack leans in close and whispers into Mac’s ear with a conspiratory grin. “Well, what do you know? Did you see what I saw?”

Mac shakes his head, quickly scrutinizing the other agents, wondering what observation Jack made that he missed, but grateful for the chance to witness his partner’s skills in action and learn from his experiences.

Jack guffaws quietly. “Clip-ons.” 


End file.
